COL.  GEORGE  WASHINGTON  FLOWERS 
MEMORIAL  COLLECTION 


DUKE  UNIVERSITY  LIBRARY 
DURHAM,  N.  C. 


PRESENTED  BY 

W.  W.  FLOWERS 


THE  SPIRIT-LIFE 


A 

DISCOURSE, 

DELIVERED  IN  THE  METHODIST  CHURCH, 

AT  HIGHLANDS,  NORTH  CAROLINA, 
NOVEMBER,    15,  1868, 

AT  THE 

FUNERAL  SERVICE  OF  JOHN  M.  FRANCE, 
BY  WILLIAM  S.  BALCH. 

PUBLISHED    BY  REQUEST. 


GALESBURG,  ILL.: 

PRINTED  AT  THE  FEEE  PRESS  S'XEAJi  PRINTING  H0Ofl£. 
18G8. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet 

Archive 

in  2014 

https://archive.org/details/spiritlife123balc 


TO  MARIA  FRANCK. 

Sister: — You- will  recognize,  in  the  following  pages,  little  more  than 
the  sentiments  of  my  discourse  at  the  funeral  services  of  your  late  husband. 
Having  been  delivered  without  any  notes  and  under  the  peculiar  impres. 
sions  of  the  occasion  and  the  surroundings,  it  is  impossible  for  me  to 
recall  the  language  or  the  spirit  which  gave  it  so  much  of  the  merit  which 
you  and  the  friends  attach  to  it.  I  think  you  and  they  will  find  the  sub- 
stantial part,  the  doctrine  of  the  sermon  here,  what  it  was  there. 

Hoping  it  may  serve  to  remind  you  and  them  of  the  great  value  of  the 
doctrine  of  the  Spirit-Life  as  taught  by  our  blessed  Lord,  and  help  to  give 
cheerfulness  and  resignation  I  commit  it  to  you,  praying  for  the  blessing 
of  God  to  attend  and  comfort  you  and  all  that  mourn. 

Thine  fraternally 

W.  S.  B. 


P33873 


THE  SPIRIT-LIFE. 


I  have  come  a  long  way,  my  friends,  to  perform  a  special  service ; 
to  speak  to  you  who  are  assembled  here,  the  words  of  comfort  and 
hope.  I  am  come  at  the  living  and  dying  request  of  one  who  has 
lived  among  you,  whom  you  have  known  and  greatly  respected;  but 
who  is  with  you,  in  bodily  presence,  no  more. 

1  feci  impressed,  under  these  circumstancee,  by  a  sense  of  duty, 
to  speak  of  the  goodness  of  that  Faith  and  Hope  which  blessed  him 
while  living,  made  him  a  good  man,  a  faithful  friend,  a  kind  neigh- 
bor, an  honest  and  peaceable  citizen,  and  gave  him  peace  and  joy  in 
the  prospect  and  hour  of  death. 

I  have  chosen  for  a  guide  to  our  thoughts  the  words  of  Jesus  re- 
corded by  St.  John,  chap,  xi;  25:26. 

"And  Jesus  said  unto  her,  I  am  the  Resurrection  and  the  Life  ;  he  that 
believeth  in  me,  though  he  were  dead,  yet  shall  he  live;  and  whosoever 
liveth  and  believeth  in  me  shall  never  die.    Believeth  thou  this?  " 

Lazarus,  a  particular  friend  of  Jesus,  was  sick  in  ^Bethany.  His 
sisters,  anxious  for  his  recovery,  sent  for  Jesus  who  was,  at  the  time, 
in  Gallilee  to  come  and  visit  and  heal  him.  Jesus  delayed  his 
coming  till  Lazarus  had  died  and  was  laid  in  the  tomb. 

When  it  was  known  that  Jesus  was  coming,  Martha  hastened  out 
to  meet  him,  to  pour  her  grief  into  his  ear  and  obtain  comfort  from 
his  words  of  counsel  and  sympathy.  She  tells  him  of  her  confidence 
in  his  power  to  have  preserved  the  life  of  her  brother,  and  hints 
<;  that  even  now  whatsoever  he  would  ask  of  God,  God  would  give 
him."  Jesus  assured  her  that  her  hi  other  should  rise  again.  Of 
this  she  professes  an  abiding  conviction,  based,  no  doubt,  upon  a  doc- 
trine which  had  come  to  the  Jews  from  other  nations,  but  which 
bore  no  near  resemblance  to  the  doctrine  of  life  and  immortality 
brought  to  light  in  the  gospel. 

Jesus  proceeds  to  indicate,  not  the  truth  of  her  notions,  but  what 
he  means  by  "  rising  again/'     "  I  am  the  resurrection  and  the  life." 

P33873 


He  does  not  refer  this  to  a  physical  resurrection  to  take  place  "  at 
the  last  day/'  or  at  any  future  period.  "  I  am  the  resurrection  and 
the  life."  So  sure,  so  strong,  so  efficient  was  this  work  of  grace  on 
all  who  received  it  by  believing,  that  though  one  "  were  dead,  yet 
should  he  live;  and  whosoever  lived  and  believed  should  never  die." 

These  words  cannot,  by  any  fair  use,  be  referred  to  a  future  resur- 
rection of  the  body  from  the  grave;  for  Jesus  manifestly  uttered 
them  to  correct  the  misapprehension  of  Martha  touching  the  doctrine 
of  a  future  life,  and  to  place  before  her  a  sure  foundation  of  hope 
and  comfort  whereon  to  rest  her  weary  spirit  in  this  hour  of  grief. 

From  ages  long  before,  philosophers,  poets  and  dreamers,  in  many 
lands,  had  wandered  in  imagination  far  beyond  the  fields  of  all  hu- 
man knowledge,  beyond  the  thick  curtain  which  separates  the  present 
from  a  future  being.  They  had  conjured  up,  in  their  dreams  and 
visions,  states  and  conditions  according  to  their  own  fancies,  to  meet 
and  answer,  if  possible,  the  natural  want  and  longing  of  the  soul  for 
a  continued  life.  All  of  their  notions  were  tinctured  and  colored  by 
thoughts  and  passions,  hopes  and  fears,  joys  and  sorrows,  love  and 
hate,  successes  and  failures,  desires  and  distinctions  of  the  present 
life.  But  so  low  and  carnal  was  their  estimate  of  the  future  life,  that 
the  more  sedate  and  excellent  preferred  to  look  upon  death  as  a  sleep, 
a  condition  of  silence  and  darkness,  "  where  the  wicked  cease  from 
troubling  and  the  weary  are  at  rest/' 

By  close  contact  and  frequent  intercourse  with  surrounding  na- 
tions, especially  during  and  after  their  captivity,  the  Jews  had  learn- 
ed, and  a  portion  of  them  had  accepted,  the  crude  notions  of  the 
heathen  as  possible  truths  upon  which  to  rest  their  expectations  of 
another  life.  Many  of  the  Pharisees  who  thought  themselves  so 
much  better  than  others,  found  it  not  difficult  to  believe  tliey  might 
be  raised  into  a  future  state  of  being  at  "the  resurrection  of  the 
just";  while  the  more  learned  Sadducess  rejected  all  such  notions, 
and  believed,  like  the  earlier  Jews,  in  no  conscious  hereafter  for  any 
man. 

It  is  certain  they  had  no  treatise,  no  direct  authority,  no  revelation, 
on  this  subject.  Their  scriptures  were  silent  respecting  the  fact  and 
conditions  of  a  future  life.  The  patriarchs  thought  and  spoke  of  death 
as  a  sleep,  a  state  or  place  of  silence,  "a  land  of  darkness,  as  darkness 
itself;  and  of  the  shadow  of  death,  without  any  order,  and  where 
the  light  is  as  darkness."     Their  later  writers  believed  "  the  dead 


7 

know  not  anything;"  that  "There  is  no  work,  nor  device,  nor 
knowledge,  nor  wisdom  in  the  grave-"  It  is  generally,  if  not  univer- 
sally, admitted  by  all  good  students  of  the  Old  Testament,  that  the 
doctrine  of  a  future  life  is  not  taught  in  it.  It  has  indications? 
types,  and  shadows  of  good  things  to  come  J  promises,  purposes,  and 
plans,  which  to  us,  involve  such  a  doctrine  and  cannot  be  fulfilled 
without  it.  Thus  by  induction  and  inference  ive  may  now  learn 
what  those  to  whom  the  old  revelation  was  given  did  not  understand- 

In  the  economy  of  God  it  was  reserved  for  the  new  revelation 
by  Jesus  Christ,  to  "abolish  death  and  bring  life  and  immortality  to 
light."  The  doctrine  was  true  before,  but  it  was  not  "  brought  to 
light,"  to  be  believed  and  enjoyed  by  mortals  on  earth.  Jesus  was 
the  "  first  born  from  the  dead,'  "  the  first  to  rise  from  the  dead  to 
die  no  more."  He  was  to  swallow  up  death  in  victory ;  to  "  destroy 
death  and  him  that  had  the  power  of  death,  and  deliver  them  who, 
through  fear  of  death,  were  all  their  life-time  subject  to  bondage." 
He  is  to  "reign  until  the  last  enemy,  death,  is  destroyed";  and  '-there 
shall  be  no  more  death,  neither  sorrow  nor  crying,  nor  any  more 
pain;  for  the  former  things  shall  pass  away,  and  all  things  be  made 
new  ;  "  all  things  be  reconciled  unto  God  "  that  "  God  may  he  ALL 

IN  ALL." 

Martha's  expectations  were  not  well  founded.  Jesus  indicated  to 
her  the  true  source  of  comfort  in  affliction,  the  sure  foundation  of 
hope  in  a  future  life  and  a  re-union  of  spirits,  by  giving  her  to  under- 
stand the  nature  and  success  of  his  work  for  humanity.  The  occa- 
sion was  a  fitting  one.  Here  were  centered  the  strength  of  pure  af- 
fections; fearful  anxieties,  bitter  anguish,  terrible  uncertainties,  re  - 
membered  kindness,  disappointed  hopes,  rushed  upon  her,  all 
crushed  and  trembling,  in  the  dark  and  silent  presence  of  death 
No  ray  of  light  streamed  through  the  darkness  into  that  sad  and 
weary,  and  still  loving  soul.  No  warm  glow  of  love  and  re-awakened 
hope  came  to  dry  the  tears  that  flowed  from  eyes  that  saw  no  bright 
and  beautiful  hereafter.  It  was  the  time  and  the  place  for  just  such 
words  as  Jesus  spake;  for  just  such  doctrine  as  Jesus  taught;  for 
just  such  hopes  as  he  inspired.  It  was  just  the  time  to  show  the 
living  presence  of  the  spirit  and  its  sufficiency  ;  the  power  of  truth 
over  error,  of  joy  over  sorrow,  of  life  over  death,  of  God  over  all 
things.    It  was  just  the  time  to  make  known  the  wisdom  and  power 


8 

of  God  in  planning  and  fulfilling  the  high  destiny  of  man,  in  consti- 
tuting the  soul  for  a  spirit-life  and  a  blessed  immortality. 

What  then,  we  may  ask,  was  the  doctrine  Jesus  taught  in  his 
conversation  with  this  weeping  daughter  of  Zion  ?  What  view 
what  insight,  did  he  give  of  a  spirit-life,  a  life  beyond  death  ?  What 
prospect  did  he  spread  before  the  sad  soul  to  gaze  upon  with  fixed 
regards  and  sufficient;  while  death,  with  poisoned  arrow,  had  trans- 
fixed the  form  of  a  brother  beloved,  already  mouldering  in  the 
tomb  ? 

It  concerns  us  all  to  know  the  answer  to  questions  like  these;  for 
such  a  time  is  in  waiting  for  all  of  us,  when  nothing  on  earth; 
neither  wealth  nor  wisdom,  goodness,  love,  friends — nothing  human, 
shall  be  found  sufficient  to  meet  the  demands  of  a  soul  departing,  or 
of  mourners  remaining.  Something  more  than  human,  quite  divine, 
is  needed  to  give  fortitude,  hope  and  happiness  in  such  an  hour; 

when  all  of  thought,  all  of  love,  all  of  power,  all  of  everything  

eternity  itself,  is  crowded  into  a  single  conviction  and  is  to  color  and 
decide  everything  ;  when  its  hold  on  earth  is  surely  giving  way,  and 
its  holiest  desires  are  reaching  out  into  the  darkness  to  find  something 
stable  to  rely  upon.     If  their  be  a  word,  a  sentence,  a  doctrine,  a 
promise,  a  revelation  from  the  loving  Father,  it  must  be  for  such  a 
time  as  this.     And  if  the  claims  of  Christianity  are  real,  and  not  a 
cheat,  they  must  be  equal  to  the  wants  of  every  soul  struggling  mid 
these  conflicts  of  its  imperfect  being,  aud  about  to  launch  from  these 
mortal  shores  out  upon  the  dark  waves  of  a  shoreless  eternity. 
What  did  Jesus  teach  concerning  a  spirit-life  ? 
He  certainly  did  not  teach  the  general  resurrection  of  the  body 
at  the  last  day,  to  be  followed  by  a  general  j  udgement,  in  recognition 
of  all  the  distinctions  and  follies  of  the  present  world  and  an  end- 
less separation  based  upon  them,  and  make  a  belief  in  such  a  doc- 
trine the  ground  of  hope  and  comfort  in  sorrow  and  in  the  front  of 
death.    His  words  cannot  be  construed  to  give  countenance  to  any 
such  idea.     He  says :  ''lam  the  resurrection  and  the  life ;  he  that 
believeth  in  me,  though  he  were  dead,  yet  shall  he  live ;  and  he  that 
liveth  and  believeth  in  me  shall  never  die."    Martha  had  some  faith 
in  the  heathen  doctrine  of  "  the  resurrection  at  the  last  day." 
That  doctrine  he  did  not  approve.    This  she  did  not  understand  in 
its  fulness.    It  was  new,  and  peculiar  to  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christy 
not  yet  established  in  its  spirit  among  men. 


9  1 

In  the  next  chapter  Jesus  says;  "Now  is  the  judgment  of 
this  world;  now  shall  the  prince  of  this  world  be  cast  out;  and  I, 
if  I  be  lifted  up  from  the  earth,  will  draw  all  men  unto  me." 

I  suppose  this  language  refers  to  the  same  great  fact  in  the  work  of 
God  for  the  redemption  of  mankind  from  sin  and  unbelief,  by  raising 
them  into  the  kingdom  of  God,  into  the  spiritual  life  which  JesuS 
had  come  to  reveal  and  establish  for  the  comfort  and  salvation  of  the 
world.  His  was  a  moral  kingdom,  a  spiritual  dominion  over  the 
hearts  of  the  people.  His  was  a  present  work.  He  came  to  seek 
and  to  save,  to  reform  and  to  bless,  to  give  a  knowledge  and  judg- 
ment, a  faith  and  a  hope,  a  confidence  and  a  joy,  not  hitherto  possess- 
ed by  men.  He  came  to  draw  the  human  soul  from  the  errors,  fol- 
lies and  vices,  from  the  low  estimate  and  fallen  condition  of  the  age ; 
from  the  superstitions  and  bigotries  long  prevalent  among  the  na- 
tions; to  impart  to  it  a  new  spirit  and  power  of  moral  life;  to  deliver 
it  from  the  ignorance  and  slavery  into  which  it  had  fallen;  to  bring 
it  into  a  new  and  higher  state  of  moral  perception  and  action  than 
the  world  had  ever  attained;  to  raise  it  into  the  light  and  loving 
presence  of  God ;  to  reconcile  it  to  all  the  ways  of  his  providence — 
to  all  the  methods  of  his  government ;  to  start  it  on  its  high  des- 
tiny, to  obtain  perfect  liberty  in  Christ,  and  to  possess  itself  of  the 
heavenly  inheritance  among  the  children  of  God,  the  saints  in 
light. 

Thus  Jesus  was  to  establish  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  the  reign  of 
God,  in  the  earth.  He  was  himself  to  reign  with  God  by  love  in 
human  hearts,  to  subdue  and  reconcile  all  their  passions  and  desires 
to  the  will  of  God,  and  prepare  them  for  the  glorious  career  of  a 
happy,  blessed,  and  immortal  life  with  all  the  redeemed  of  God. 
Thus  prepared,  God  was  to  dwell  in  them,  and  his  Jove  was  to  be 
perfected  in  them,  that  they  might  dwell  in  him.  Thus  filled  with 
the  light,  and  love,  and  presence  of  God,  they  could  have  no  fear, 
no  distrust,  no  anxiety  for  the  future.  Death  had  no  more  domin- 
ion over  them,  but  they  ''were  passed  from  death  unto  life." 

Now  it  was  the  object  of  Christ's  mission  to  draw  all  men  into  this 
condition  of  spiritual  life  and  peace.  As  he  was  already  in  it,  pure 
and  perfect,  entirely  subject  to  the  will  of  the  Father,  he  was  plainly 
what  he  declared  himself  to  be,  "the  resurrection  and  the  life." 
And  such  a  power  was  there  in  him,  such  a  moral  force  did  he  im. 


t 

10 

part  to  all  who  believed  in  him,  that  whoever  lived  in  the  new  spirit- 
life  "  should  never  die." 

The  spirit,  and  power,  and  love,  and  will,  and  work  of  God  are 
not  limited  to  time,  nor  shut  up  in  one  part  of  creation,  and  shut  out 
from  all  the  rest.  God  is  everywhere.  His  eye  and  his  arm  are 
over  all  his  works.  What  we  call  death  is  not  darkness  to  him. 
All  is  light  where  he  is,  and  he  is  everywhere.  Our  sin?,  our  igno- 
rance, our  unbelief,  divide  between  us  and  him  and  darken  and 
make  sad  the  souls  on  which  their  shadows  fall.  But  God  is  light. 
In  him  is  no  darkness  at  all.  Our  sins,  our  ignorance,  our  unbelief, 
can  not  remain  forever  ;  for  Jesus  came  to  save  the  world  from  sin. 
And  he  shall  not  fail,  but  finish  his  work.  He  came  to  fulfil  the 
new  covenant,  to  write  the  laws  of  God  in  all  hearts,  that  "all  should 
know  the  Lord  from  the  least  unto  the  greatest." — Heb.  viii,  10-12. 
And  "we  shall  be  like  him,  for  we  shall  see  him  as  he  is."  God's 
benevolent  designs  shall  not  be  frustrated  by  man's  weakness.  Death 
does  not  bar  God  from  doing  all  his  pleasure.  "  He  will  swallow  up 
death  in  victory,"  and  "  there  shall  be  no  more  death."  Be- 
lievest  thou  this  ? 

For  l hem  that  believe  in  Jesus  there  is  no  death  :  "  they  shall 
never  die."  Our  brother  "  believed  this."  He  did  not  die.  He 
"passed  through"  the  open  gates  into  the  city  of  God,  the  holy 
place  of  the  Most  High,  into  the  glorious  presence  where  purity, 
love,  and  joy  abound  forever. 

This  doctrine  embraces  continued  existence  and  moral  character, 
and  the  j  ust  judgment  of  God  in  rendering  to  every  man  according 
to  his  works.  He  does  so  now  in  the  earth :  "Also  unto  thee,  0 
Lord,  belongeth  mercy ;  for  thou  renderest  to  every  man  according 
to  his  works." — Ps.  lxii,  12,  "Behold,  the  righteous  shall  be 
recompensed  in  the  earth;  much  more  the  wicked  and  the  sinner." 
Prov.,  xi,  31.  There  is  no  reason  to  expect  God  will  in  any  way 
alter  the  method  of  his  government  in  the  future  life.  He  changes 
not.  Therefore  justice  and  judgment,  which  are  the  habitation  of 
his  throne,  will  be  meted  out  to  every  moral  being  in  that  state  as 
truly  as  in  this. 

Our  hope  in  the  final  salvation  of  all  men  rests  solely  on  the 
ground  of  their  salvation  from  sin — that  all  men  shall  be  holy  ;  for 
"  without  holiness  no  man  shall  see  the  Lord."    In  the  flesh  no  man 


11 

is  perfect;  for  "  in  the  flesh  dwellcth  no  good  thing/'  Holiness  is 
a  principle,  a  quality,  a  possession,  to  be  acquired — to  be  obtained. 
It  is  not  possessed  by  nature  ;  that  is,  by  a  mere  animal  existence- 
It  belongs  to  our  moral  or  spiritual  nature,  and  is  obtained  in  it8 
strength  and  perfection  through  the  revelation  made  by  Jesus 
Chiist,  by  whom  we  are  called  unto  holiness.  Ht  was  the  last 
Adam,  made  a  quickening  spirit."  He  teaches  and  commands  in 
the  name  of  the  Father  :  "Be  ye  holy  ;  for  I  am  holy."  And  lie 
is  to  reign  till  "all  things  are  gathered  together  in  bim — till  every 
knee  shall  bow  and  every  tongue  confess  that  he  is  Lord  to  the  glory 
of  God,  the  Father." 

If  I  am  asked  W  When,  and  by  what  ways  and  means  this  glorious 
result  of  Messiah's  reign,  designed  and  promised  from  the  beginning, 
is  to  be  accomplished  ;"  I  am  frank  to  confess  L  do  not  know.  We 
know  but  little  of  the  ways  and  meaus  of  God  beyond  what  he  has 
revealed  unto  us.  Very  many  of  life's  highest  aspirations  and 
noblest  attainments  are  the  works  of  faith,  more  than  of  knowledge  ; 
and  by  far  the  largest  and  best  portions  of  human  life  are  lost  to  us 
when  faith  is  wanting.  We  walk  by  faith,  not  by  sight.  I  do  most 
earnestly  anu  devoutly  Relieve  that  such  a  result  shall  be  attained  "  in 
the  dispensation  of  the  fullness  of  times"  by  ways  and  means  known 
unto  God  :  for  he  has  desired  it,  purposed  it,  willed  it,  designed  it, 
planned  it,  promised  it;  and  I  believe  he  will  do  it.  Patriarchs  be- 
lieved it;  prophets  foretold  it;  saints  and  good  men  pray  for.it,  and 
work  for  it ;  and  to  Jesus  was  given  all  power  in  heaven  and  in 
earth  that  he  might  not  fail  to  accomplish  it. 

I  do  not  feel  authorized,  by  any  amount  of  knowledge  yet  pos- 
sessed, to  magnify  hindrance's  mighty  enough  to  oppose  successful- 
ly and  finally  the  will,  plan,  purpose,  promise  of  Almighty  God,  so 
as  to  weaken  or  destroy  faith  in  Him,  and  in  his  declaration  that 
his  "  counsels  shall  stand,  and  he  will  do  all  his  pleasure." 

Abraham,  old  and  childless,  with  a  wife  past  age,  and  everything 
against  it,  believed  God.  He  did  not  stagger  at  the  promise  be- 
cause he  did  not  see  and  know  the  ways  and  means  of  its  accom- 
plishment. Sarah  did  :  she  laughed  at  an  idea  involving  so  many 
difficulties ;  and  when,  finally,  she  half  believed,  and  would,  in  her 
wisdom,  help  God  fulfil  the  rest,  Ishmael,  and  not  the  promised  son, 
was  born.    Not  so  with  Abraham.    He  believed  God,  and  started 


12 

for  the  promised  land ;  but  like  many  in  our  day,  he  passed  through 
it,  not  knowing  whither  he  went  or  where  he  was — a  pilgrim  and  a 
stranger,  seeking  a  country  and  a  city.    And,  like  many  others,  he 
wandered  too  far — quite  over  the  desert  beyond  it — and  found  him-B 
self  in  Egypt  j  whence,  after  prevaricating  a  little, — as  such  often 
do, — he  returned  and  dwelt  in  one  corner,  the  narrowest  and  rough-  j 
est  part,  of  the  promised  inheritance.    Pespite  the  ridicule  of  his  ! 
wife  he  did  not  falter,  but  continued  to  believe.    In  due  time  Isaac 
was  born.    The  proffered  counsel  of  Sarah  to  employ  the  help  of 
Hager  did  no  more  than  suggest  doubts  to  overcome  apparent  dif- 
ficulties in  the  way  of  Infinite  Wisdom,  Power,  and  Goodness,  and 
help  to  array  oppositions  to  the  peaceful  enjoyment  of  the  promised  1 
blessing.    When  called  to  the  last  trial  of  his  faith,  Abraham  did 
not  hesitate  to  obey  God  and  offer  up  his  only  child  -  the  son  of  his 
old  age.    He  still  believed,  despite  all  darkness  and  difficulties,  that 
God  would  make  all  plain  and  right  in  the  end. 

Do  the  opposers  of  faith  in  the  success  of  God's  great  work 
through  Jesus  Christ  really  think  there  is  any  weight  in  their  limit- 
ed knowledge — in  their  ignorance  of  God's  ways  and  means  of  work- 
ing— to  lead  us  to  doubt  and  disbelieve  that  he  will  execute  his  own 
will,  fulfil  his  own  designs,  and  do  all  his  pleasure  ?  Do  they  ask 
us  to  set  what  they  see  and  know,  and  what  they  do  not  see  and 
know,  over  against  what  God  has  planned,  and  undertaken,  and  sent 
his  Son  to  accomplish;  that  we  shall  believe  that  he  will  do  what  he 
never  desired  or  designed,  willed  or  wished  to  do, — what  only  bad 
men  and  devils  would  ever  be  pleased  to  have  done;  and  his  own 
great  work  of  redemption  become  a  failure  ? 

Such  should  know  that  the  limit  of  knowledge  is  not  the  measure 
of  out  faith,  Because  "  now  we  see  not  yet  all  things  put  under 
Jesus,"  shall  we  believe  they  never  will  be  ?  The  sphere  of  human 
knowledge  is  very  limited  j  and  our  perceptions  of  the  deep  things 
of  God  in  his  eternity  are  not  yet  quite  perfect,  that  we  should 
judge  him  by  any  human  standard,  and  go  beyond  what  he  has  been 
phased  to  reveal  to  us  of  his  good  pleasure  concerning  the  future 
and  final  destiny  of  our  race.  We  are  satisfied  to  leave  the  disposal 
of  all  with  him;  and,  while  we  are  thankful  unto  him,  we  would 
seek  to  obey  him,  and  in  all  things  to  be  resigned  to  his  most  holy 
will. 


13 

To  return.  There  are  natural  and  insurmountable  obstacles  in 
the  way  of  the  heathen  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  of  the  body.  It 
is  a  fact  established  beyond  controversy  that  the  human  body,  like 
the  bodies  of  other  animals,  is  made  up  of  material  substances,  and  is 
continually  undergoing  changes,  so  radical,  sure,  and  complete,  that 
no  particle  of  matter  composing  the  body  at  childhood  remains  in 
youth,  and  none  of  youth  remains  in  manhood,  aud  none  of  man- 
hood in  old  age.  Physiology  teaches  conclusively  that  the  body 
undergoes  an  entire  change  every  seven  or  ten  years.  The  body 
grows,  matures,  declines,  dies,  and  returns  to  its  primordial  ele- 
ments. These  elements  are  taken  up  to  nourish  vegetable  forms. 
Grains  and  grasses  on  battle-fields  and  in  grave-yards  are  nourished 
by  the  blood  and  flesh  and  bones  of  human  bodies.  These,  in  turn, 
are  consumed  by  other  men  and  animals,  and  go  to  form  parts  of 
other  bodies  ;  and  so  the  change  is  perpetually  going  on.  What 
constitutes  parts  of  our  bodies  may  have  passed  through  many 
other  bodies  before.  How  then  can  all  these  bodies  be  raised  up  at 
once,  and  each  have  all  the  parts  of  its  own  body  ? 

Then,  which  of  all  our  bodies  shall  we  have  ?  The  last  ?  Then 
what  shall  become  of  the  others  ?  Shall  we  have  the  young,  rouud, 
terse,  blooming  body  of  childhood  and  youth  ?  the  strong,  hale,  vig- 
orous body  of  manhood  ?  or  the  pale,  diseased,  wrinkled,  decayed, 
seared  emaciated,  cadaverous  body  we  shall  have  on  in  old  age  or  at 
death  ?  The  soul  surely  can  not  wear  them  all  at  the  same  time  ; 
and  if  the  sick,  the  weak,  the  halt,  the  blind, — if  these  bodies  with 
all  their  infirmities  are  to  be  raised  up  and  made  immortal — and 
"  there  is  to  be  no  change  after  death/'  heaven  will  not  be  the 
agreeable,  beautiful,  happy  place  it  has  been  represented  to  be. 

Besides,  what  can  there  be  consoling  and  hopeful  in  the  thought 
that  these  poor  bodies  which  have  caused  us  so  much  pain  and  anx- 
iety are  to  be  raised  up,  and  we  be  sent  to  inhabit  them  again  and 
forever  ?  The  heathen  world  held  such  doctrines  long  before  Jesus 
was  sent  to  abolish  death  and  be  himself  "  the  resurrection  and  the 
life."  Why  insist  on  them  with  such  tenacity  and  try  to  prove 
them  Christian,  when  Christianity  ignores  them,  and  teaches  an- 
other doctrine,  at  once  reasonable,  consistent,  and  glorious  ? 

The  church  made  a  great  and  grevious  mistake  when  it  preferred 
the  mysterious,  inconsistent,  and  obscure  traditions  of  heathenism, 


14 

to  the  simple,  sublime,  and  beautiful  doctrine  of  Jesus,  and  engraft, 
ed  them  into  the  name  of  Christ,  and  made  them  an  essential  part 
of ';  a  saving  faith." 

The  declared  object  of  Jesus'  mission  was  to  save  sinners,  to  over- 
come evil,  to  destroy  death,  and  restore  all  men  to  holiness  and 
happiness.  This  was  to  be  done  by  raising  or  elevating  the  human 
soul  out  of  the  depths  of  vice  and  ignorance  and  corruption  into 
which  it  had  fallen,  into  the  light  and  knowledge  of  truth,  love,- 
and  God. 

St.  Paul,  in  his  letter  to  the  Romans,  exhibits  the  doctrines  of 
Jesus  in  a  very  clear  and  forcible  manner.  I  have  not  time  to  quote 
what  he  says.  You  may  read  at  your  leisure  the  fifth,  sixth, 
seventh,  and  eighth  chapters,  where  you  will  see  clearly  stated  and 
fully  argued  the  Christian  doctrine  of  the  resurrection.  The  same 
may  be  found  in  both  his  letters  to  the  Corinthians,  (I  Cor.,  xv  ;  II 
Cor.,  iv-v.,)  and  in  other  portions  of  his  writings. 

The  substance  of  what  he  teaches  may  be  summed  up  in  few 
words,  thus  :  Man  was  created  a  human  being,  and  made  subject  to 
a  system  of  laws  which  regarded  his  whole  existence,  and  contem- 
plated his  highest  good.  Being  subject  to  vanity,  and  not  knowing 
good  and  evil  intuitively,  he  was  left  to  the  force  ot  temptation, 
appealing  to  his  physical  or  carnal  feelings,  which  he  lacked  the 
spiritual  or  moral  power  to  resist.  The  penalty  of  transgression  was 
death.  "  In  the  day  thou  eatest  thereof  thou  shalt  surely  die."  He 
yielded  to  temptation;  he  sinned;  he  died.  "To  be  carnal  minded 
is  death."  "The  wages  of  sin  is  death."  All  men  sinned,  and  po 
death  passed  upon  ail  men.  Jesus  Christ  came  into  the  world  to 
save  sinners  :  by  raising  them  out  of  the  dominion  of  sin  and  death, 
giving  them  the  spirit  of  truth,  that  they  might  "  be  risen  with  him 
and  walk  in  newness  of  life."  "  To  be  spiritually  minded  is  life 
and  peace."  «  The  gift  of  God  is  eternal  life."  "  As  many  as  are 
led  by  the  spirit  of  God,  they  are  the  sons  of  God."  "You hath  he 
quickened  (raised  up)  who  were  dead  in  trespasses  and  sins." 
"  And  you,  being  dead  in  your  sins,  hath  he  quickened  (raised  up) 
together  with  him,  having  forgiven  you  all  trespasses." — Cor.,  ii,  12 
-13.  "  Awake,  thou  that  sleepeth,  and  arise  from  the  dead,  and 
Christ  shall  give  thee  life,"  "  We  know  that  we  are  passed  from 
death  unto  life." — John,  v,  25  ;  I  John,  v,  13. 


L5 


Passages  might  be  multiplied  without  number  which  prove  what 
was  the  especial  work  of  Jesus  with  mankind  *  that  he  came  to  raise 
human  hearts  above  the  dominion  of  sin,  by  leading  them,  by  his 
Father's  spirit  of  wisdom,  truth,  and  love,  in  ways  of  holiness  they 
had  not  known  :  that  they  should  be  holy  as  he  is  holy,  in  all  meek- 
ness and  godly  conversation,  loving  one  another  and  doing  no  evil  ; 
that  the  life  they  should  henceforth  live  should  be  by  the  faith  of 
the  Son  of  God — God  dwelling  in  them  and  his  love  being  perfected 
in  them 

Now  Jesus  sought  to  impress  this  great  truth  upon  the  Bad  heart 
of  Martha  that  she  might  feel  her  soul  drawn  out  in  love  and  sub- 
mission to  the  will  of  God.  He  represented  hitnself  in  his  true  re- 
lation to  humanity  :  "the  T&f  urrection  and  the  life  ;"  the  represen- 
tation and  embodiment  of  the  spirit-power  of  God  over  sin,  death, 
and  the  grave;  that  they  all  were  subordinated  to  his  divine  and 
glorious  purpose  to  '■  wTork  out  a  far  more  exceeding  and  eternal 
weight  of  glory  :  while  we  look  not  at  the  things  which  are  seen,  but 
at  the  things  which  are  not  seen  ;  for  the  things  which  are  seen  are 
temporal,  but  the  things  which  are  nut  seen  are  eternal." 

If  it  be  still  insisted  that  Martha  did  not  comprehend  this  doc- 
trine, I  have  only  to  reply  that  it  was  because  Jesus  was  not  yet 
risen  to  prove  it,  and  make  it  plain  beyond  all  controversy.  In  this 
case,  as  in  others,  Jesus  asserted  what  was  not  yet  understood,  what 
the  world  could  not. knoir,  but  might  believe,  without  the  striking  ev- 
idence to  be  afterwards  given.  Hut  he  did  strike  the  central  fact  of 
the  new  revelation, — the  power  of  the  quickening  spirit  over  the 
lusts  of  the  flesh,  whereby  it  obtained  an  insight  iuto  the  wise  aud 
benevolent  designs  of  God  in  his  government  and  providence  over 
the  imperfections  and  weaknesses  of  this  mortal  life,  preparatory  to 
the  entrance  upon  the  lull  joys  and  blessedness  of  immortality. 

When  Jesus  was  risen  from  the  dead  many  things  were  made 
plain  to  his  disciples  which  they  did  not  comprehend  before.  Among 
others  was  the  certainty  now  felt  that  there  is  help  and  strength  for 
the  struggling  spirit  of  man  to  obtain  the  ascendancy  over  the  body, 
and  to  live  iu  a  higher  and  nobler  form  of  conscious  being,  when  the 
dust  shall  have  returned  to  the  dust  as  it  was,  and  the  spirit  to  God 
that  gave  it. 

Faith  in  this  power  of  the  spirit  became  the  strength  and  hope  aud 


16 

comfort  of  the  believers,  and  sustained  and  cheered  them  in  their 
toils  and  sufferings,  and  made  them  conquerors  and  more  than  con 
querors  through  him  who  loved  them  and  gave  himself  for  them.  It 
was  the  anchor  of  their  souls,  sure  and  steadfast,  amid  all  perils. 
They  relied  upon  it  for  themselves,  and  commended  it  to  others  as 
sufficient  for  all  trials  and  sorrows — a  safe  support  in  every  netd. 
They  dwelt  upon  it  with  utmost  confidence  and  satisfaction.  It 
shed  a  light  and  lustre  over  all  the  conditions  of  life,  removed  the 
sting  of  death,  and  dispelled  the  victory  of  the  grave.  They  did 
not  die. 

St.  Paul  is  very  lucid  and  distinct  in  his  treatment  of  this  sub" 
ject.  He  says  :  "  We  know  that  if  our  earthly  house  of  this  taber- 
nacle were  dissolved  (if  the  body  were  decomposed),  we  (the  inner 
man)  have  a  building  of  God,  an  house  (spiritual  body)  not  made 
with  hands  eternal  in  the  heavens  :  for  we  that  are  in  this  taber- 
nacle (body)  do  groan,  being  burdened  ;  not  that  we  would  be  un- 
clothed (rid  of  life  because  of  suffering),  but  clothed  upon,  that 
mortality  might  be  swallowed  up  of  life." 

In  his  first  letter,  Chap,  xv,  he  treats  the  subject  more  at  length, 
and  shows  most  conclusively  that  the  body  we  now  inhabit  is  not  to 
be  raised,  is  not  the  body  we  are  to  have,  any  more  than  the  grain 
that  dies  in  the  ground.  The  germ,  the  spirit-life,  is  to  start  into  a 
higher  life  and  be  clothed  with  such  body  as  God  shall  give  it,  re- 
taining its  own  personality,  because  God  shall  give  to  every  seed  his 
own  body.  11  It  is  sown  a  natural  (earthly)  body  ;  it  is  raised  a 
spiritual  body, — and  as  we  have  borne  the  image  of  the  earthly,  we 
shall  also  bear  the  image  of  the.heavenly." 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  Christianity  reveals  the  great  glad  truth 
that  man  shall  not  die,  but  continue  to  live  in  a  higher  and  purer 
state  of  being,  though  the  earthly  house  of  this  tabernacle  be  dis- 
solved. It  was  in  the  office  of  Christ  to  reveal  and  make  prominent 
this  doctrine  of  life  and  immortality.  He  stood  forth  separate  and 
distinct  from  all  who  had  come  before  him  in  his  advocacy  of  it  as 
the  antidote  of  sorrow,  the  ground  of  hope,  and  strength,  and  j  >y,  and 
life,  for  all  who  believed  it.  He  did  not  come  to  create  it,  or  make  it 
possible  for  them  who  might  believe.  He  came  to  reveal  it  as  a 
truth,  as  a  fact  of  God,  hidden  for  ages  and  generations,  but  now  to 
be  made  manifest  by  his  resurrection  from  the  dead,  whereby  as. 


17 

surance  was  to  be  given  unto  all  men  that,  as  he  lives,  we  shall  live 
also  j  for  he  will  swallow  up  death  in  victory  and  wipe  away  tears 
from  all  faces  and  take  away  his  rebuke  from  all  the  earth. 

Let  us  consider  this  glorious  truth  on  the  individual  heart  in  the 
presence  of  death.  Jesus  gives  it  a  power  sufficient  to  remove  the 
thought  of  death  from  the  believer's  mind  so  effectually  that  death 
had  no  more  dominion  over  it,  "for  whoso  believeth  in  him  shall 
never  die."  Jesus  felt  the  power  of  this  great  truth  as  he  stood  there 
talking  with  the  weeping  sister,  and  when  at  the  grave  of  his  friend 
Lazarus.  He  was  sustained  by  it  when  treading  the  wine  press  alone 
in  the  garden,  in  stern  conflict  with  duty  and  the  cross  on  one  hand 
and  self-will  and  disobedience  upon  the  other.  He  conquered  though 
he  fell.  He  won  a  victory  for  humanity  the  world  had  never 
known  ;  for  through  suffering,  he  was  made  perfect  that  he  might 
succor  others  and  be  for  salvation  unto  the  ends  of  the  ends  of 
the  earth. 

St.  Paul  felt  the  power  of  it  when  the  time  of  his  departure  was 
at  hand.  Having  fought  the  good  fight  and  kept  the  faith,  he  had 
no  fear  of  death.  He  was  ready  to  be  offered — to  depart  and  be  with 
Christ  in  the  still  more  intimate  relation  of  a  perfect  spirit-life.  He 
did  not  die ;  he  "  passed  through"  the  dark  valley  to  the  better 
land.  Peter  and  John  and  all  the  disciples  and  martyis  for  truth 
did  not  die ;  they  went  home — tl  passed  through"  into  the  immortal 
home. 

I  think  this  subject  must  be  plain,  very  plain,  to  all  who  will  ex- 
amine and  reflect  upon  it,  and  bring  the  teaching  and  spirit  of  Jesus 
right  home  to  their  own  hearts  as  a  life  power  and  a  guide  to  the 
truth.  I  think  it  was  very  plain  to  our  dear  brother's  mind  while 
he  lay  there  so  calm,  so  humble,  so  childlike,  so  perfectly  resigned 
to  the  will  of  the  loving  Father  that  no  murmur  of  complaint  ever 
escaped  his  lips.  Perfectly  conscious  that  the  hour  of  his  departure 
was  near,  he  made  all  preparation  for  it,  that  coulu  be  made,  by  ar- 
ranging his  earthly  affairs  in  wisdom  and  prudence  for  the  good  of 
others,  giving  such  directions  and  advice  as  seemed  important  and 
practical  •  then  waiting  patiently  for  the  angel  of  God  to  come  and 
guide  him  to  the  heavenly  inheritance,  to  the  beloved  in  the  bosom 


18 

of  the  Father.  He  saw  no  death.  He  felt  no  fear.  He  believed  in  him 
who  "  is  the  ressurrection  and  the  life;"  that  he  had  abolished  death 
and  brought  life  and  immortality  to  light  in  the  gospel.  He  did  not 
die.  His  last  words,  whispered  to  his  beloved  and  faithful  wife  who 
was  leaning  over  him,  were,  "  I  am  passing  through." 

Yes,  he  did  not  die.  He  was  only  "  passing  through"  to  the 
blessed  land,  to  the  house  not  made  with  hands,  to  be  clothed  upon 
with  the  spirit-body  and  dwell  with  God,  and  Christ,  the  angels,  and 
ransomed  spirits  evermore ;  to  bask  in  the  clear  sunlight  of  truth 
and  love;  to  wander  at  will  amid  the  trees  of  paradise  and  bathe  in 
the  river  of  water  of  life,  mingling  his  heart's  purest  devotions  with 
a  ransomed  world  ;  in  songs  of  ceaseless  praise  to  Almighty  God  in 
everlasting  gratitude  for  his  great  goodness  and  for  his  wonderful 
works  to  the  children  of  men. 

May  we  not,  friends,  learn  lessons  of  wisdom  and  have  confidence 
in  God  through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  when  we  see  such  efficacy  in 
the  power  of  Christian  Faith,  such  blessedness  in  Christian  Hope  ? 
We  are  all  of  us  mortal,  in  our  earthly  being;  and  all  of  us  have 
spirits  which  have  need  to  be  touched  and  trained  to  the  love  and 
life  of  God,  that  the  lives  we  now  live  may  be  by  the  faith  of  the 
Son  of  God  and  in  hope  of  joys  to  come.  We  have  need  to  learn  of 
Jesus,  who  was  meek  and  lowly  of  heart,  that  we  may  find  rest  unto 
our  souls.  It  will  not  do  to  trust  in  an  arm  of  flesh.  Nothing  earth- 
ly can  abide  us  in  times  of  our  greatest  need.  Our  hearts  must  be 
staid  on  God.  The  doctrines  of  men,  of  sects,  are  not  enough. 
They  partake  too  much  of  the  spirit  of  this  world,  of  its  selfishness, 
of  its  pride  and  folly.  They  will  not  abide  us  when  standing  naked 
before  God.  Our  souls  must  be  absorbed  into  his  love  and  light 
and  life,  as  revealed  by  Jesus  Christ,  who  is  the  way,  the  truth,  and 
life.  We  must  believe  in  him,  live  in  him,  walk  by  faith,  and  we 
shall  have  the  life  of  God  renewed  within  us.  We  shall  live  in  con- 
stant preparation,  in  full  assurance  of  the  immortal  life.  We  shall, 
indeed,  have  it  now, — "shall  have  everlasting  life,  and  not  come 
into  condemnation,  but  be  passed  from  death  unto  life."  "  God  is 
not  a  God  of  the  dead,  but  of  the  living;  for  all  live  unto  him." — 
Luke,  xx,  38.  We  have  need  to  know  this  truth;  to  feel  it  as  a 
conviction,  a  power  abiding  within  us,  guiding  our  hearts,  control} 


19 

ing  our  passions,  shaping  our  conduct,  forming  our  characters,  and 
preparing  us  to  enter  into  the  joy  of  our  Lord  to  go  no  more  out 
forever. 

A  living  faith  in  Jesus  Christ  as  the  great  Teacher  and  loving 
Saviour  sent  of  God  to  represent  his  divinity  and  our  humanity,  and 
show  us  how  his  spirit  in  us — "  the  inner  man  of  the  heart" — should 
be  raised  into  a  rightful  supremacy  over  the  flesh,  "  the  outer  man," 
and  make  us  the  willing  subjects  of  God's  most  holy  government, 
established  over  all  for  good  and  not  for  evil, that  we  should  "purify 
our  souls  in  obeying  the  truth  through  the  spirit,  unto  unfeigned 
love  of  the  brethren,  loving  one  another  with  pure  hearts  fervently ; 
being  born  again,  not  of  corruptible  seed,  but  of  incorruptible,  by 
the  word  of  God  that  liveth  and  abideth  forever."  We  must  con- 
sent to  be  led  by  his  holy  spirit;  "  for  as  mmy  as  are  led  by  the 
spirit  of  God, they  are  the  sons  of  God."  The  old  man  with  his 
lusts  must  be  crucified  and  passed  away;  and  we  must  put  on  the 
new  man  which  after  God  is  created  in  righteousness  and  true 
holiness. 

This  result  of  a  living  faith  in  Jesus  Christ  as  the  Saviour  of  the 
world,  will  impart  to  the  soul  a  conviction,  a  power,  and  a  presence, 
which  no  fear  can  disturb,  no  sorrow  darken.  It  accepts  the  hand 
of  God  and  feels  itself  drawn  into  the  realm  of  love,  purity,  and 
peace.  It  leans  on  the  arm  of  God  and  finds  support  through  all 
trials,  sickness,  sorrow.  Death  can  not  weaken  it-  It  looks  up  to 
God  through  shadows  and  tears  and  sees  him  who  died  for  our  sins 
-and  rose  again  for  our  justification,  that  we  might  live  with  him,  and 
be  glorified  together. 

Let  us,  my  brethren  and  sisters,  examine  our  own  hearts,  learn 
our  own  minds,  prove  our  own  feelings,  and  see  whether  we  be  in 
the  faith,  rooted  and  grounded  in  Jesus,  and  growing  up  into  him 
who  is  the  head  in  all  things.  Our  lives,  our  hearts,  our  thoughts, 
our  whole  being  belongs  to  God.  He  made  us ;  he  preserves  us ; 
he  feeds  and  clothes  us.  In  him  we  live,  and  move,  and  have  our 
being.  "Whether  we  live,  therefore,  or  die,  we  are  the  Lord's." 
"  Whether  therefore  we  eat  or  drink,  or  whatever  we  do,  let  us  do 
all  to  the  glory  of  God," 


20 

With  such  a  faith  we  shall  be  prepared  to  live,  to  rejoice  and  be 
glad  all  our  days.  With  such  a  faith  we  "shall  never  die/'  but  like 
our  good  brother,  we  shall  "  pass  through''  to  our  happy,  glorious, 
immortal  home,  to  dwell  with  those  we  have  loved,  with  all  the  pure 
and  holy;  and,  with  every  creature  in  heaven,  on  ear  h,  under  the 
earth,  in  the  sea,  and  all  that  are  in  them  and  join  th;  universal  an- 
them of  deliverance  from  sin,  of  victory  over  death,  of  salvation  and 
praise  ;  "  Blessing,  and  honor,  and  glory,  and  power  be  unto  him 
that  sitteth  upon  the  throne,  and  unto  the  Lamb  forever  and  ever." 


S75.6  Z99C  1850-79  v.  1  Ncs. 

1-25  Pldi86 


THIS  VOLUME  T>OSS  mt  CIRCULATE 
OUTSIDE  Tfc*  LIBRAE*  BUILDING 


